Infrared or Colour Capture?

If you've ever been to Banff National Park, no doubt this is one of the places you ended up seeing. It is one of the most photographed vistas in the rockies (lake moraine and the valley of the ten peaks). The old Canadian twenty dollar bill used to have this on one side.

Nothing new here to see but it doesn't matter much, I still go to this place every time I've been in the area because it is simply beautiful to see and hike around in. Hopefully one of my visits will give me some dramatic sky with some fog or snow so that I can get a more unique capture.

So what to do if the sky is just not cooperating and you want a little more mood? Pull out your infra-red converted camera (or an infrared filter for your camera) and voila...a completely different look.

With infrared photography, the greens take on a white, snow covered like look and the sky gets nice and dark. Sometimes the image is so drastically different that it doesn't even look like the same place. Not quite the effect here, but completely different mood. Take your pic, I like both for different reasons.

If you have an old DSLR kicking about, it may be worthwhile getting it converted. The cost is around $400. Alternatively, you can get an Infra-Red filter but the cost savings is not huge as they are over $200 for a 77mm size. In addition, you will not be able to hand hold one using a filter as it usually required long exposures. This is due to the fact that many modern DSLR cameras have a filter in front of the sensor to minimize infrared light.